We had a good discussion in our edit board meeting this morning on whether the United States could ever come together again to fight a world war. Most of us have been watching at least parts of the 15-hour Ken Burns' documentary The War.

It's very sobering and hard to watch in big chunks, at least for me.

The documentary -- which comes with 14 lesson plans for high school history teachers who wish to use it in their classrooms -- points out how the U.S. went from a relatively minor power and world player into a superpower in the war years.

Before Pearl Harbor, the military was in marginal shape, due to the Depression, the birth dearth and isolationist tendencies. But Pearl Harbor shocked the country into action and soon, fighter planes, ships and ammunition were coming out of factories at record speed. Women worked in those factories and somehow this country figured out how to offer government run child-care centers.

Could we ever rally like that again?
Blog lines are open.

While you contemplate our question, listen to Alvin Pitmon (who works in our IT/Business Systems department here) sing "O, Beautiful, for Spacious Skies."

(National Archives/PR Newswire photo)

---

---